Christmas Baby Please Come Home
by mmouse15
Summary: Jazz, Mirage and Inferno are sent on a mission.  What awaits them when they arrive back at the Ark?  December collaboration challenge story.


Title: Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)

Characters: Prowl, Jazz, Red Alert, Inferno, Hound, Mirage

Content: intimacy

Prompts: poinsettia, piñata or posada from the collaboration/inspiration challenge, but I wasn't able to get it done in time for Veji to do art. However, I'm putting this story up to share with everyone.

A/N: I love Straight No Chaser's version of _Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)_ and listened to it on repeat while I wrote this story. This was inspired by a dream and IMs with vejiraziel.

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><p>They arrived at the entrance to the Ark at nearly the same time. Prowl nodded to Red Alert and then to Hound, ready to head out to the rendezvous point for the few flying mechs of the Ark.<p>

Red Alert was practically vibrating with tension, while Hound tried and failed to act calm. Prowl found himself holding his doors higher than normal, tension in his cables pulling them higher than normal. It was difficult, waiting for Skyfire and for their lovers, who had been on a long-term mission to Mexico. They folded into their alt-modes, setting out with other mechs for the landing strip.

_Several months previously_

"We're going to miss you!" Blaster said into the microphone, pounding music turned down temporarily. "You all enjoy the life south of the border!"

Laughter greeted his sallies and the party swirled into action again, mechs dancing, talking, laughing, and flirting with each other.

Prowl stood near Optimus, an almost full cube of high-grade in his hand, watching the kaleidoscope of bots interact with each other.

"I am sorry, Prowl." Optimus said, his optics on the crew and their party.

"For what?" Prowl asked, genuinely puzzled.

"For sending Jazz away." Optimus replied, his gentle gaze settling on his second.

Prowl shrugged. "He is a logical choice for this kind of mission, Optimus."

"Perhaps, but I don't know how long they will be gone. Won't that worry you?" Optimus wanted to know.

Prowl looked over the room again. There had been a very sedate gathering earlier, with diplomats and politicians in attendance and words layered with multiple meanings, but after the formalities, Blaster and Jazz had put together a party intended for the mechs and many had taken advantage of the opportunity to let loose and have a good time. Jazz was one such, and Prowl smiled fondly at Jazz attempting to get low enough to go under a bar held by Sideswipe and Bluestreak.

He turned his attention back to Optimus. "No, I trust Jazz, and I know that he has the flexibility to adapt to the situation, and from the briefings, his adaptability will be necessary for a successful mission."

Optimus nodded and looked back over the party. Prowl turned his attention to the party, too, and could see that some mechs had taken advantage of the opportunity for some quality time together. Hound had finally coaxed Mirage away, while Inferno had allowed Red Alert to pull him from the noisy party to the privacy of their quarters. Ratchet was being coaxed away by Sunstreaker, and Sideswipe was handing his bar holding duties to Smokescreen, and the minibots were moving in a cluster toward the exit.

Blaster, ever in-tune with the prevailing mood of a party, had segued to quieter, more intimate songs. Jazz appeared at Prowl's side, a hint of bashfulness in his optics, and Prowl responded by offering his hand to Jazz. When Jazz placed his hand in Prowl's, Prowl handed his cube of energon to Optimus and swung Jazz onto the dance floor.

Jazz was always graceful, but Prowl could match him easily and they moved together seamlessly, flowing easily around each other, imparting teasing touches and looks until Jazz broke and dragged Prowl away. Optimus smiled under his mask to see them enjoying each other's company.

The few remaining mechs broke up, heading toward their berths and a peaceful recharge. Blaster cleared away his equipment (a mere matter of folding it away in his body) and waved to Optimus as they parted at the room's doors, heading toward their berths.

_Present day_

Prowl, Red Alert, and Hound waited impatiently for Sky fire to land on the flat desert plain several miles from the Ark that the Autobots used as their impromptu landing strip.

The shuttle landed lightly and his passengers quickly disembarked, allowing him to transform and walk to the waiting cluster of mechs with them.

Optimus waited patiently while the three mechs, Jazz, Inferno, and Mirage, greeted their lovers quietly before reporting to him. They had sent regular reports on their activities, but a full update would be necessary, and would be the first thing they did.

Hours later, they finished their reports and entered the common room of the Ark, colloquially known as the rec room, where they joined most of the crew.

"So! What did we miss?" Jazz wanted to know, sliding into a chair next to Prowl, who'd been shanghaied into his chair by Sideswipe, who'd also collected Red Alert and Hound, pushing them into chairs around a large table created by pushing together many of the smaller ones that had been scattered around the room. Sideswipe had made sure a chair stayed empty next to each of the three, giving Jazz, Mirage and Inferno easy places to sit among the group.

"Oh, lots," Sideswipe said, "but that's hardly important right now. What was that request you sent Blaster?"

Jazz looked startled for a mere moment, then bent a narrow gaze on Sideswipe. "When did you learn to hack the comm channels?"

Sideswipe just grinned at him. "Never you mind, let's get back on topic."

Red Alert swallowed his reaction to rant at Sideswipe and made a note to change all the communication encryption keys as soon as he could. Blaster caught his optics and nodded, and satisfied, Red Alert sat back and listened.

"Well," Jazz started, "while we were down there, we came across a lot of traditions. Mexico is a wonderful country and they have some really fun things to do. We'd have down time when we weren't wanted at the negotiations, so we'd travel around the countryside and talk to the people and learn about the traditions. It was really fun, and there's one I'd like to try with everyone here."

"What is it?" Red Alert wanted to know.

Inferno shifted uncomfortably for a moment, stilling when Mirage caught his optics. They looked at each other for a long moment, then Inferno nodded. Jazz continued.

"We'd like to do our own version of Los Posadas with the mechs on the Ark."

"What is Los Posadas?" Several mechs wanted to know.

So Jazz and Inferno launched into a confusing explanation of the celebration, rambling on until Mirage said, "Allow me, please."

Jazz and Inferno clicked their mouthplates shut and let Mirage speak.

"It is a religious celebration that occurs over nine days. It is intended to mimic the journey of two expectant parents to the father's family home to be counted for a census. The parade travels through the village or town, stopping at various homes until it reaches a pre-arranged destination, where the travelers are given shelter for the night. The younglings get to play games, food is served, and the next night, the journey is repeated until the final night, when the destination is the local religious center. A religious celebration follows the arrival of the parents and the birth of their child. This leads to Christmas, which I believe Spike has explained to everyone."

Various murmurs of agreement came from the group, and Mirage finished up. "The wonderful thing about Los Posadas was the feeling that everyone could participate, even if they had to work. The entire population, young to old, was included."

"And you'd like to do this, on the Ark?" Bumblebee asked.

"Yes." Jazz, Mirage, and Inferno answered.

"Isn't it too late? Christmas was a couple of weeks ago." Smokescreen said.

"Does anyone really care if we do this at the right time? Next year we can do it at the proper time." Mirage answered.

The group fell to discussing the idea, and finally, Sideswipe nodded.

"This sounds fun. Let's do it."

Prowl then spoke. "This is more than just a metaphorical journey, isn't it?"

Jazz nodded slowly, his optics fixed on Prowl. Prowl bowed his head. "Very well. How can we refuse? Let us find out what you have planned for this, and what we will learn as we travel this path."

Red Alert looked frightened for a moment, blue sparks beginning to dance over his sensor horns, but then his expression cleared as Prowl sent him a brief comm. The blue sparks cleared away. No one was offended, glad that Prowl could head off a bad moment for Red Alert.

Hound looked over at Mirage, who simply said, "Please?" before getting a nod from the scout.

The group broke apart, and Jazz huddled with Blaster for a few moments before joining Prowl.

The next night, everyone who was off-duty came to the rec room, where Mirage was waiting for them. He handed them a datapad with a simple message on it.

'I'm red.'

"Well, it can't be Sideswipe," Tracks said, "because he's here."

"Ironhide!" Ratchet exclaimed, and the group headed to Ironhide's quarters.

He was waiting for them, leaning in his open door with a big grin on his face.

"There's no room here," he said, "which is what I'm supposed to say."

"So, what do we do next?" Bluestreak wanted to know.

"We find another red mech who isn't in our group." Sideswipe said, catching onto the idea. "Cliffjumper's here, what about Warpath?"

The group headed toward the minibot's quarters, where he was also waiting for them.

"POW! Took you guys long enough! Blammo, it's not me! Oh, wait, kapow, there's no room here." Warpath was grinning as he joined the group.

"Uh, Powerglide!" was Cliffjumper's next suggestion. The group moved down three doors and knocked.

Powerglide answered the door, "There's no room here. Also, there's another clue."

"What is it?"

"I'm also yellow." Powerglide told them.

"Blaster!" Several mechs chorused as the group headed down the halls.

At Blaster's door, Eject and Rewind were waiting for them.

"Actually, there really isn't room here, so please head to the rec room." Rewind told them.

"Whoo-hoo, we found room!" Sideswipe yelled, leading the group to the rec room.

In the time they'd been traveling the hallways of the Ark, the rec room had been transformed. There were poinsettias tucked in decorative groupings all over the room, streamers were hung from the ceiling and looped along the edges of the room, and a ball with points was hanging in the center of the room. A group of tables had been pushed together and contained energon goodies made by Ratchet and Perceptor.

Blaster waited until they came in the room, then used his microphone to talk to them.

"So, I'm supposed to give you a reading for you to think about, as part of this journey." He looked down at a note in his hand, then looked back up and began to speak.

It was an old tale, a youngling's tale, and Blaster told it well. Enthralled, most of the mechs found a chair or a spot on the floor to sit and listen. It was a story about a youngling that was making a journey to his grand-creator's home and the mechs he met along the way that helped him. In the end, the youngling arrived and his grand-creator wanted to know what he'd learned. At this point in the story, Blaster stopped and looked up.

"So, what did he learn?"

"Respect!" "Acceptance!" "That being different isn't bad!"

"Tolerance." Prowl's voice broke through. "That everyone has their own abilities, and while his initial reaction is one of fear, each of the mechs he met had a gift that allowed him to continue his journey."

"Yes," said Blaster, "So all those answers apply. That's the first stop of this journey, now let's have our feast and celebration!"

The group laughed and began to line up to get some of the energon goodies, then Jazz introduced them to the concept of the ball hanging from the ceiling.

"It's called a piñata." Jazz said, "Now, you're supposed to be blindfolded and hit at it with a stick. Because of our abilities, it would take two astroseconds for someone to smack this thing open, so we're going to ask that you turn off your optics and all your weapons systems if you want a turn at this."

Sideswipe laughed and said, "I volunteer to be first!"

"Excellent!" Jazz grinned. "C'mon over, Sides, let's show them how to do this!"

Sideswipe was handed a slender stick and Mirage went to the other end of the rope, dropping the star-shaped ball down, then pulling it back up as Sideswipe swung the stick at it. After Sides had tried to hit it three times, Jazz laughingly put his hands on Sides' shoulders.

"OK, Sides, that's your turn. Who's next?"

The piñata turned out to be extremely fun, the whole group forming a circle around the participants and chanting 'hit it!' as each mech took their turn. Finally, Seaspray connected and the piñata exploded open, showering another batch of energon goodies over the floor. Mechs scrambled to collect their share, laughing as they traded flavors with each other.

The party was quieter than many the Ark had hosted, but it seemed to go well. After the piñata, some mechs began talking to each other, others began telling stories they remembered from their youngling days, and others headed to recharge, tired and ready for rest.

Prowl touched Red Alert's arm and indicated a table in the corner with a tilt of his head. Red Alert followed him to the table, and Hound appeared just as they were sitting down, pulling up a chair to join them.

"Have you gotten any hints?" Prowl asked.

Red Alert nodded. "Inferno really wants me to do this. He told me there was something at the end that he wanted me to have, but that Jazz and Mirage had shown him that I needed to go through this exercise to really appreciate it."

Prowl said, "I believe he is correct. Thank you, Red Alert. Hound?"

Hound shook his head. "Mirage isn't giving anything away, other than he's nervous about this whole thing. You?"

Prowl agreed, "Jazz is nervous, too, and he wants to tell me something, but he's keeping this secret very well."

"First time for everything?" Hound guessed.

Prowl was serene. "I believe, if I am calculating the odds correctly, that his goal is a worthy one."

Red Alert opened his mouth, then closed it again, finally asking, "Do I want to know?"

"You'll figure it out, Red Alert, and Inferno will never do anything to hurt you." Prowl told him.

"Yes, you're right, Prowl. I'll just have to keep reminding myself." Red Alert said, wringing his hands until Inferno noticed and came over to soothe him.

The party broke apart soon after, and Prowl followed Jazz to their quarters. Once inside, Jazz turned to face Prowl.

"Figured it out already, Prowl?" Jazz asked.

"I believe so," Prowl said, "but Hound and Red Alert have not, and I'm willing to go along with this idea until they do."

Jazz shifted, tension thrumming through his body. Prowl smiled at him. "My answer will be yes, when the time comes."

Jazz's smile bloomed, pure happiness radiating from him. "I love you, Prowl."

"I love you, too, Jazz. Now, come to berth. I want to hold you. I've missed you so much."

Jazz moved easily to Prowl and they snuggled together for their recharge cycle, happy to be together again.

In this manner, the group was lead along their journey of learning. Bluestreak told them about joyfulness, Ratchet had compassion, Perceptor got to speak about determination, Inferno told them about faith, Wheeljack about persistence, then Skyfire spoke about courage, while Cliffjumper addressed commitment on the eighth day.

Hound figured out where they were going on the sixth night after faith and persistence, but Red Alert remained unknowing until the final night.

"Tonight's virtue," Optimus said, his optics twinkling, "is love. You have embarked upon a journey that mirrors the one Jazz, Mirage and Inferno unknowingly started on when they were sent upon a long-term mission. I had not thought, when I created the group I was going to send, that I was splitting up three committed couples. I was merely thinking about abilities in diplomacy and adaptability. However, the three I sent used their time away wisely, not only successfully finishing the diplomatic mission they were sent to fulfill, but also using that time to think about their respective relationships and where they wished to go with them. I believe I am to turn the microphone over to Jazz now."

Jazz accepted the microphone and said, "I'm not sure I want to do this in public, so I'm turning this over to Blaster." He handed the microphone to Blaster, then moved in front of Prowl.

Prowl told him, "I want to do this in the privacy of our quarters."

Jazz nodded and hand in hand, they left the rec room. Hound and Mirage were behind them, trailed by Red Alert and Inferno. Hound had a big smile on his face and couldn't stop grinning down at Mirage, but Red Alert was fretful and Inferno was having a hard time soothing him.

When the three couples reached the juncture where they would split from each other, Prowl stopped and released Jazz's hand, going back to Red Alert.

"Red Alert, you need to trust Inferno. He will not hurt you. You retain full control and the ability to refuse anything you are not comfortable with. Trust him?" Prowl said.

Red Alert slowly nodded, and quietly followed Inferno to their quarters. Prowl watched after them until they were in their room, then returned to Jazz. Mirage and Hound had disappeared.

Prowl held out his hand to Jazz, who took it, and guided Jazz to their quarters. Once inside, Prowl pulled Jazz into his arms and held him close. They held each other, sinking into the feeling of each other, their systems synchronizing and calming them. Jazz laid his helm on Prowl's chest and listened to his sparkbeat.

"Prowl, would you be my mate, my lover, my bonded?" Jazz asked quietly.

"Always and forever, Jazz." Prowl answered.

In Hound and Mirage's quarters, Mirage had moved Hound to the berth, sitting on the edge, before kneeling before him and asking,

"Will you become my bonded?"

Hound pulled him up, kissing him passionately, then rolled him onto the berth before answering, "Yes, a thousand times over."

Inferno had the most difficult job, since Red Alert was trembling in fear, his sensor horns on the verge of sparking. Inferno chose to coax Red into his lap and simply hold him until Red Alert stopped shaking, crooning until the tension seeped out of Red Alert's frame and he relaxed, as much as he was able, against Inferno.

Finally, Inferno murmured to Red Alert, "Better?"

Red Alert nodded against Inferno's chest.

"I love you." Inferno told Red Alert quietly.

Red Alert nodded. A long comfortable silence fell between them. Red Alert finally told him, "Inferno, I love you."

Inferno's arms clenched momentarily, holding Red Alert tightly to himself before relaxing his arms again.

"Red…"

"Yes, Inferno?"

"Will you be my mate?" Inferno asked him.

Red Alert stiffened. "Inferno…"

"I missed you, Red, and while we were gone, I had a chance to think how much I missed you and what I could do about it. If we were bonded, we'd never miss each other. We'd be in each other's spark, always. I would like it, very much, if we could." Inferno felt wrung out after confessing to Red Alert, but he also felt lighter. Now Red Alert knew what was on his processor, and it was up to him to take the next step.

To Inferno's surprise, Red Alert merely snuggled in closer and said, "Yes."

And thus, Optimus found himself officiating over the bonding of three couples, each having gone on their own journey of discovery of love.

The End and The Beginning.


End file.
